Internet Sex Addiction

Internet sex addiction, also called cybersex addiction, has been proposed as a form of sexual addiction characterized by virtual internet sexual activity causing serious negative consequences to a person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being, and may also be considered a subset of the theorized internet addiction disorder; it manifests in behaviors including reading erotic stories, viewing, downloading or trading online pornography, activity in adult fantasy chat rooms, cybersex relationships, and masturbation during online sexual activity. According to the American Association for Sex Addiction Therapy, its causes may include the neurophysiological attachment that occurs during orgasm reinforcing addictive behavior, psychological deficits such as abandonment or lack of genuine attachment, an underlying chemical imbalance from conditions such as major depression or bipolar disorder, and intimacy anorexia, in which the online world feels safer than real relationships.